Background
In many states and communities, substance abuse related felonies make up a large amount of convictions. As stated by a publication from Georgetown’s Journal on Poverty Law and Policy, ¾ state prisoners and ⅘ federal prisoners are alcohol/drug involved offenders. Additionally, 58% of state prisoners and 63% of sentenced jail inmates met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse, compared to 5% of the total adult population. There are also high rates of drug related crime; 17% of state prisoners and 18% of federal inmates committed their offense to obtain money to purchase drugs.
Successful substance abuse treatment has been shown to decrease rates of recidivism. However, many inmates do not receive effective treatment and thus experience higher likelihood of recidivism as well as more difficulty integrating into society when released. Unfortunately, 95% of offenders return to drug abuse and 60-80% commit a new drug-related crime upon being released from prison.
Substance abuse intersects with incarceration at recidivism at various levels of the ecological model. Though stable housing is critical for recovery from SUDS, on an individual level, many people struggle to find places to live and become homeless. Individuals with former SUD-related convictions may also struggle with mental health issues and use substances to self-medicate, which may aggravate symptoms and lead to an addiction disorder. On the employment level, various federal employment guidelines as well as corporate stigma against substance-usage lead to people with substance abuse convictions losing their jobs or having difficulty getting hired. On the policy level, systematic racism in the law enforcement and criminal justice system leads to vast racial disparities in substance related arrests, convictions, and felonies.
Main Findings
The raging opioid epidemic has hit states like Virginia, especially its rural communities such as Halifax county, the hardest. However, data from the Center for Disease Control on opioid usage in Virginia counties -- specifically, the opioid prescription rate per 100 people, proposes a positive perspective on how Halifax has handled the opioid epidemic. The line graph illustrates that while prescription rates peaked in 2010, they have been steadily decreasing since. In fact, Halifax seems to fare better than Virginia as a whole; opioid prescription rates have also gone down, but at a lesser rate and have peaked more frequently in 2012 and 2015.
A map of the same data provides further context of Halifax’s opioid prescription rates compared to other Virginia counties, as well as the change in prescription rates over time for Virginia. The scale goes from 0 to 584 opioid prescription rates per 100 people, suggesting that in several counties, the majority of people have at least one prescription. Halifax is consistently in the second lowest bucket of prescription rates: 60 to 122. The spikes in Virginia rates are also evident through these maps.
